


Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss

by SquaresAreNotCircles



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Domestic Fluff, Kissing, M/M, off screen death of an oc, so much kissing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 23:37:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15230541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquaresAreNotCircles/pseuds/SquaresAreNotCircles
Summary: Magnus still doesn’t open his eyes or emerge from his hiding place, just on principle, but the confusion wakes him up enough that he could have. “Did you just kiss my knee?” he asks.5 times Alec gets creative with kisses + 1 time Magnus does.





	Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was semi-inspired by the fact that there was a forehead kiss in a script for season 2 that never made it to the screen (aka the news that We Were Robbed, Why Oh Cruel World). I saw that, did nothing with it, and a couple of days later went “oh man, I love forehead kisses, I should write that!” Add to that thought my complete inability to write any fic for this ship that ISN’T a 5+1 set up (I’ve never really written 5+1 before Malec but now I caN’T STOP), and you get roughly this. 
> 
> This is set in a canon universe, but selectively ignores some recent show events for convenience. Also, it's 00:38 right now and I have to get up at six. What am I doing oh my gosh
> 
> The title is part of a popular quote from a John Keats poem: “Now a soft kiss – Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss.”
> 
> UPDATE: A Russian translation of this fic now exists, thanks to the incredibly sweet [alleninhere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alleninhere/pseuds/alleninhere)!!! You can read it [here on ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15804975) or [here on ficbook.net](https://ficbook.net/readfic/7273730)! <3

1.

“Magnus, are you awake?” It’s just a whisper, so low it wouldn’t have woken even the lightest of sleepers, but it still sounds loud and unwelcome in the morning quiet.

Magnus groans and sinks down deeper under the blankets in response. He doesn’t stop until his entire head is covered. “No,” he mumbles, because he is but doesn’t want to be, but even at the ass crack of dawn and while very grumpy, he always wants Alec’s attention.

There’s a chuckle somewhere outside of Magnus’s blanket cocoon. Magnus sighs happily in response and prepares to sink back into sleep.

That’s when something soft and warm touches his knee. “Bye,” Alec whispers. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

Magnus still doesn’t open his eyes or emerge from his hiding place, just on principle, but the confusion wakes him up enough that he could have. “Did you just kiss my knee?” he asks. It’s still muffled by the blanket.

“Yes. It’s the only part of you I could reach without lifting the covers.”

His left knee is kind of cold, now that Alec mentions it. He moves his leg back. Much better. “I love you,” he says, around a yawn. He hopes it conveys his deep appreciation for Alec’s consideration of his cocoon.

There’s the sound of Alec’s laugh again, softly. “I love you too.” 

After that, Magnus is vaguely aware of footsteps, a door or two being closed and maybe the sound of a key. Around that time he’s already so far gone again he could have dreamt it.

-

2.

Around four, Magnus receives a text from Alec letting him know that Alec’s going to be home late, because he’s swamped in paperwork that the Clave demands he turn in before some arbitrary deadline. He says he probably won’t make it for dinner, and asks if Magnus can save him something.

Magnus is pretty bummed, but Alec also added some sad emoji’s to his text, and the thought of serious, stoic Alec using a crying face emoji always warms something in Magnus’s chest. Besides, it’s not like he’s that hungry yet anyway. He had a big lunch.

When Alec finally comes home it’s just past nine, and Magnus is at the stove, watching over a lemon and chicken stir fry. He can hear Alec approach – Alec can be very quiet for such a large man, but he’s always careful about making sure he doesn’t startle Magnus, despite Magnus’s protests that he’s eight hundred years old and also a warlock with exceptional senses (and perhaps a subtle detection spell or two that lets him know when someone enters the loft). Magnus doesn’t turn around, because he’s already smiling at his stir fry and frankly it’s a little embarrassing.

Alec stops right behind him, and Magnus hears him inhale deeply. “That smells amazing.” 

“Glad you approve.”

“I absolutely do.” Two hands slide around Magnus’s waist, and there’s a soft press at his shoulder. “Hi. Thank you for waiting for me. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” He turns off the heat, puts down his spatula and finally moves to face Alec. “What’s this? First you kissed my knee and now my shoulder?”

“I’m going with the flow. People often say I could be more spontaneous.”

Magnus tilts his head up and leans just that little closer. They’re breathing each other’s air. “So it’s not because you forgot where my mouth is?”

Alec hums. “Let’s see.”

A minute later they have to break apart because they’re still dangerously close to a hot pan with rapidly cooling food. On the upside, they’ve definitely confirmed Alec still knows how to find Magnus’s lips just fine.

-

3.

Two days later is a Saturday, and it’s the rare kind of Saturday where Izzy, Clary and Jace have each promised three times that they can handle any Institute business that comes up perfectly, and that Alec absolutely, completely, very much does not need to show up to work today. In other words, it’s a twice-in-a-year day off for the Head of the New York Institute, and Alec and Magnus are determined to make optimal use of this privilege. That is to say, they’re determined to stay in bed half the day, and not wear anything but pajama’s (or a little less, even) the other half.

They order pizza for dinner and eat it with their hands while binging Brooklyn 99. Alec had never watched much TV before they got together, and he doesn’t have a lot of free time to spend on it now, but Magnus is slowly getting him acquainted with the most important things he’s missed over the years.

After dinner, Alec once again shows what a gentleman he is by being the one to get up to clean up and get them both a drink. “I should help,” Magnus says, because he probably should. Moving is just such an unattractive prospect at the moment. Those last two slices might have been two too many.

“You shouldn’t,” Alec contradicts, while he picks up the pizza box that ended up on the floor when Magnus was too lazy to reach all the way over to the coffee table. “I’ve got this. There’s no reason for both of us to get up.”

“You’re an angel,” Magnus tells him, and means it, because now he has a free pass to remain flat on his back on the couch. So he does, and he closes his eyes and basks in the glory of this perfect day, where Alec has had zero emergency texts (exactly) and three amazing orgasms (and counting). 

He opens his eyes to the clink of two glasses being set down on the table. It seems Alec has mixed them cocktails. 

“Honestly,” Magnus sighs, “an angel.”

“Only partly.” Alec grins at him in that way he has that made Magnus first realize this was someone he could fall for, hard and fast. It’s open, pleased and a little bashful, which is perfectly ridiculous after all this time, but also perfectly charming. 

Magnus sits up a little. It’s a large sacrifice, but one he is very willing to make if it allows Alec to sit down next to him again. Magnus settles against his side, head resting on Alec’s collarbone, against the soft black cotton of the old shirt Alec uses as sleepwear.

“Hey,” Alec says, so Magnus tilts his face up to look at him. Alec kisses his forehead.

“What was that for?” Magnus asks.

“Do I need a reason?”

“No. Forehead kisses are good.” Magnus lets his head drop to Alec’s shoulder again. One of Alec’s hands lands in his hair.

“A classic, right?”

“Never goes out of style.”

“I believe you. You’re the most stylish person I know.”

Magnus is too sated and relaxed for a real laugh, but he does expel a breath through his nose that could have been one, under different circumstances. “My, aren’t you a flatterer.”

“I try.”

Alec slips an arm around Magnus and pulls him against his chest a little tighter. Magnus lets his eyes fall closed. “After dinner nap?” he asks.

“After dinner nap,” Alec confirms, in a voice that suggests he’s already halfway there.

-

4.

Magnus hates Mondays. It’s a terrible cliché, and Cat has been insisting for decades that he should have lived enough years by now to get over it, but he hasn’t. It’s not that he doesn’t like his job – quite the opposite, in fact – it’s just that even the High Warlock of Brooklyn is expected to get up at what the rest of the world considers a reasonable hour. Magnus thinks the rest of the world has a masochism kink.

The one upside to early morning is getting to see Alec before he leaves. Magnus has a meeting at nine, so by the time he rolls out of bed at eight, Alec is already dressed, has probably gone for a run and taken a shower, and is now moving around in the kitchen, from the sound of it. Magnus throws on some purple skinny jeans and a shirt that doesn’t clash horribly, snaps his fingers to get his make up and hair done, and picks the same jewelry he wore yesterday, for convenience’s sake. Within five minutes he’s following the smell of fresh toast.

Alec is indeed in the kitchen, standing by the counter and buttering two slices of bread. He looks disgustingly awake and like he would be whistling if he wasn’t Alec Lightwood.

“Morning,” Magnus says. He refuses to say it’s a good one, despite the fact that Alec’s presence kind of means it is. It’s still a Monday. He has principles.

Alec looks up. He puts down the knife and immediately reaches for an empty mug and the coffee pot. “Hi! I’ve got coffee.”

“My hero.”

Magnus holds out his hand, but instead of giving him the cup, Alec grabs Magnus’s hand with his own free one.

And then lifts it a little, bends down a bit, and places the softest kiss on the back of it, all without breaking eye contact. “Hi,” he repeats.

Magnus swallows. “A hand kiss?”

“I figured I could bring another classic back. You were probably alive when this was still a thing people did.”

“True, but seeing as I was never a fair lady, my hand wasn’t getting kissed a lot even back then.”

“A grave oversight,” Alec says, that wrinkle between his brows that he gets when he’s pretending to be serious but actually fighting not to smile. 

“You’re a dork,” Magnus tells him. Because he can, and because it’s easier than trying to put into words how much he still can’t believe that Alec is melting parts of his heart that have been stone cold for centuries now.

“But I’m your dork,” Alec counters, and finally hands him his coffee.

“Always.”

So okay, Magnus hates Mondays, but maybe it’s not always the Monday’s fault.

-

5.

They’ve been quiet for a long while when Magnus speaks up again. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”

Alec shifts a little on the couch so he’s looking towards the ceiling, but his head remains in Magnus’s lap. Magnus counts three slow breaths before Alec answers, sounding tired. “I’m the Head. I’m responsible, even if it’s not my fault.”

“I know.” He does. He’s been High Warlock for decades now, and the structure of Warlock society is a lot less rigidly hierarchical than the Shadowhunters’, but it still feels like a personal failure every time he loses a Warlock in his area. He can’t imagine how hard it must be on Alec, who’s actively sending his people into battle every day. “But you’re not on your own. They know the risks of the job. I’m sure Justin did too.”

“He did. But we’ve lost so many people recently, with Valentine, and this was a stupid accident during what should have been a routine demon hunt. I had to call his parents, and I can never help thinking, what if it had been- Well, somebody else.”

He doesn’t say any names, but the implication is clear. Izzy, Jace, Clary. Max. Magnus’s heart hurts for the possibility, and for Alec specifically. “It wasn’t,” is all he can believably promise.

“No.” Alec turns his head back towards Magnus’s stomach. “But it was somebody else’s son.”

“I know.” Magnus runs a soothing hand over Alec’s arm. “These things happen. They shouldn’t, but they do. There’s nothing you could have done about it, and tragedies that are out of your control don’t make you a bad leader.” Alec knows all of this, and Magnus knows he knows, but Magnus also knows that sometimes it’s still good to hear them from someone else.

Alec is quiet for a bit again. “Thank you,” he says eventually, and he lifts his head just a little before settling back down.

It doesn’t feel appropriate to smile, but Magnus almost does anyway. “Did you just kiss my stomach?”

“I’ve done that before. Technically.”

The context is so different that Magnus needs a second to understand what Alec is getting at. “This isn’t a sexy situation, though.”

Alec hides his face against Magnus’s stomach. “Not really, no,” he tells Magnus’s blue paisley patterned button-down. “But I like it.”

Magnus brings his hand up to Alec’s hair, not even stroking, just resting it there. He does it very lightly, afraid to break this giant man curled up in his lap. “So do I.”

-

+1.

It’s a Monday again, but it’s nearing lunchtime and morning seems very distant. Magnus’s presence in the Institute is so common these days that barely anyone glances up from their workstations when he enters the central room. He spots Alec by one of the tables, signing some paperwork Underhill is holding out to him. 

Underhill notices Magnus and gives him a grin and a wave, which directs Alec’s attention his way. Magnus waves back. He remains at the edge of the room, because he’s already been seen and he doesn’t want to interrupt their work.

Alec finishes up quickly. As soon as he’s handed his pen back to Underhill, he heads straight for Magnus. Underhill looks a little amused at this sudden departure, and Magnus is once again struck by how much Downworld and Shadowhunter relations have changed in just the past year.

“Hello, handsome,” Magnus says, when Alec comes to a stop right in front of him. He’s within arm’s distance, so Magnus takes half a step closer and put a light hand on his chest. “Ready for lunch?”

“Very ready. And hello.” Alec swoops in, tilting his head down for a quick, almost automatic kiss hello, and that’s when Magnus sees his opening. While Alec bends down a bit, he aims higher, and presses a kiss to the tip of Alec’s nose.

Alec goes still. He stops moving completely for a second, frozen in place, head still tilted down.

Then he breaks out into the goofiest smile Magnus has ever seen. It’s _adorable_. Magnus knows he’s a little biased, but this isn’t his unconditional love for Alec’s face speaking. He can’t help that it’s objectively really fucking cute.

“You just kissed my nose,” Alec says, and even when he’s stating the obvious he’s charming. Magnus would be mad about it if he wasn’t so busy thinking sappy thoughts, like how he’s the luckiest man in the world.

“That was on purpose.”

“I thought it might be. You were inspired?”

“Yes, by your giant nose.”

Alec wrinkles his nose in response, playing at offense. “I can’t believe you beat me to the nose kiss.”

“It’s a competition now?” Magnus slides his hand up a over Alec’s chest a little higher, and raises his eyebrows to match. “Sexy.”

Alec laughs. “This is getting a little inappropriate for my workplace. Let’s get out of here.”

Magnus takes Alec’s proffered hand. “Yes,” he agrees. “Let’s.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Please consider leaving a comment if you liked it. Comments are the coffee to my sleep deprivation - they are what keeps me going against all odds. <3
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr as [itwoodbeprefect](http://itwoodbeprefect.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Oh, and #saveshadowhunters, obviously!!!


End file.
